Masonry walls are made of stone or brick laid in stacked horizontal rows against a backing wall, made of plywood for example. To ensure that the masonry walls are properly aligned with respect to the backing wall, a mason starts by setting up the bricks (or stones or other masonry blocks) at the corner of the masonry wall in alignment with a corresponding corner on the backing wall, and then proceeds to fill in the rest of the masonry walls with brick.
Masonry guides have been used to aid the mason in the proper alignment of successive courses of brick, by providing him with a vertical reference line. For example, a rudimentary masonry guiding aid still used by masons are elongated 2″×4″ planks suitably affixed to the backing wall in a horizontal fashion, into which a nail is driven for supporting a vertical plumb line. This technique involves setting up a relatively heavy and cumbersome 2″×4″ plank in horizontal fashion using a spirit level, which can be a long and laborious task.
Alternately, masons can use dedicated masonry guiding tools. However, existing masonry guiding tools have been found to lack versatility or to involve an inconvenient set up procedure.